Are you a teacher in higher education wanting to get the best out of your students and assessments? Then on behalf of Risbo, Erasmus University Rotterdam, we would like to welcome you to this MOOC on Assessment in Higher Education. In this MOOC we will guide you through the different phases of preparing, creating and evaluating the assessments in your course.
After participating in this MOOC, you will be able to:
1. Design an assessment that is constructively aligned (content, level, methods) with the course objectives and activities
2. Apply the quality criteria with respect to validity, reliability and transparency for construction of assessments and assessment items
3. Analyze the assessment output and results, assess the quality of the assessment and make decisions about students’ grades accordingly
4. Formulate future improvements for an assessment
For the assignments, you will be working with your own teaching materials. For example you will create your own assessment plan for your course. Next to that you will become part of a learning community with teachers from all over the world.
We are offering you instructional videos, interviews, animations and checklists. In addition to these, there will be course activities, such as assessments, and discussion prompts. By participating in this MOOC, you will find answers to the following questions:
• What is the role of assessment?
• How can you select the right methods of assessment for your course?
• What is constructive alignment?
• How can an assessment plan and matrix help you in the construction of assessments?
• Is it possible to make an absolute reliable and valid assessment?
• How can the formulation of good assessment questions have an impact on that?
• What is the role of feedback?
• How can rubrics help with providing feedback?
• What are the things to consider when performing an exam or item analysis? What aspects should you look out for?
• How do you draw conclusions from an exam analysis and make plans for future improvements?
• If good students fail on certain questions, what does this say about the question… or about your teaching?
Are you ready for enhancing your teaching skills? Then take this journey with us.

From the lesson

Feedback & grading design

In module 1 you have learned about assessment FOR learning and the role assessments play in the learning process of students. In this module we will take this to the next step. You will learn why feedback is so important and how to provide feedback using rubrics. Did you know there are different types of rubrics? Depending on the function of the rubric each type has both its advantages and disadvantages. This module will help you deciding what type of rubric suits your needs. In the stage of grading, methods of setting a cut-off score are important. You will learn about different methods of setting a cut-off score and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods.